Recommended London Books
... not your average books for trippers!
click on title for more info and ordering details from Amazon
(Derelict London gets a % for every book sold via these links
which will help to pay for this labour of love website.......)
A journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows.
As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time:
Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross (legend has it); Dick Turpin fled the
Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London;
the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms
of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'.
Stephen Smith uncovers the secrets of the city by walking through sewers, tunnels under such places
as Hampton Court, ghost tube stations, and long lost rivers such as the Fleet and the Tyburn.
This is 'alternative' history at its best.
Arranged thematically (rivers, rail, secret tunnels, etc.) and is immensely readable and eye opening.
London is so much more than what you can see on the surface.
Excellent source of information about the 40 or so disused stations on London's Underground,
including both a wealth of facts and also pictures of the stations both past and present.
Thoroughly researched, this book provides a window into parts of the London Underground that have long
since been forgotten.
Concise and very easily read review of all the stations that have shut on the London Underground.
Many closures are quite well known, but the book also looks at the stations which have been relocated
and re-designed.
Unlocks the cities most fascinating secrets - both above and below ground. Historian Andrew Duncan strips away
bricks, mortar and tarmac to uncover parts of the capital that even born-and-bred Londoners may never have seen.
Below ground, he guides readers through abandoned Underground stations, to Clerkenwell's amazing network of
subterranean prison cells. Above ground, he leads the way through narrow alleyways and cobbled mews,
revealing unexpected treasures and describing rarely seen interiors and special collections
Complete guided tour of London's hidden ways, from the sewers to the rivers to the Underground.
The book is not a chronological record. There are chapters on the history of light, the history of childhood and the
history of suicide, the history of Cockney speech and the history of drink. Anecdotal, brilliant and wonderfully
entertaining, London is animated by Ackroyd's concern for the close relationship between the present and the
past as well by what he describes as the peculiar "echoic" quality of London whereby its texture and history
actively affect the lives and personalities of its citizens.
Tells the story of Western Avenue from the optimism of its construction in the 1920s to its partial demolition
seventy years later. It is a tale of the city and the traffic, of suburbia and the dreams of its inhabitants,
and of our senseless and all-consuming love affair with the motor car.
A guide to London's hidden streets and canals, which Iain Sinclair and photographer Marc Atkins have been
mapping for many years. The book's title reflects the changes which London is continuously undergoing,
and also refers to the Thames, which flows through the photographic and textual narrative.
Lavish, large format picture book about London, with Peter Ackroyd's inimitable text (taken from London:
A Biography), new pictures and new captions. Divided into four parts: 1) In the beginning Roman and Medieval
London, ending with the Black Death; 2) Red Contrasts the Great Fire of 1666 with the Blitz of 1944, and tells
the story of both in gripping narrative; 3) Motley Theatrical London, including street fairs, street theatre, London
as mob and crowd etc; 4) Black The industrial revolution, the London poor and homeless, London as centre of
empire (including emigration), London prisons, huge expansion of the metropolis (including the London suburbs).
Charting the colourful history of the East End, this book relives all the major incidents amid "then and now"
photographs. The Ratcliff Highway murders, the sinking of the "Princess Alice", the "Albion" disaster,
the Sidney Street siege, the Battle of Cable Street and the Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster are all
featured. The philanthropists, suffragettes, Jack the Ripper and the Krays are other high profile characters
included in this densely illustrated title.
From the riverside and docks where pirates were hanged, to the monasteries and slums east of the Tower,
the East End presents a rich tapestry of English history. This text recreates life in the East End over the
last five centuries with anecdotes, folk tales, diary excerpts and illustrations
Classic document contains 37 photographs of flower women, laborers, dustmen, street musicians,
shoe blacks, more. Astonishing historical detail.
Pubs represent a history of London life that stretches across the centuries from the taverns that served Chaucer
and Shakespeare to those frequented by Orwell and Dickens. Here London's finest hundred pubs have been
beautifully photographed inside and out and brought to life with their special fascinating histories.
River pubs and theatre pubs, Victorian gin palaces and medieval coaching houses have been chosen for their
well-preserved architecture and authentic interiors and their lively place in local history.
These 100 pubs have been the drinking haunts of the famous and infamous, from pirates and press gangs to
highwaymen and East End gangsters and from literary clubs and members of parliament to kings and their lovers.
This book is also a practical guide to these historic pubs, offering all of the essential information opening hours,
how to get there, what kind of beers are offered, and whether or not food is served.
15 history lessons about various areas of London, and 15 excellent reasons to have a few pints in
recommended pubs.The walks include Hampstead, Chelsea, Soho, Greenwich and the City,
and every walk includes between 6 and 12 pubs worth a visit.
This 2 hour self-guided Jack the Ripper walk visits all the original murder sites,
pubs and other related places of interest, giving factual accounts of what happened.
Including map and directions. Aimed at tourists, true crime and Londoners.
The Kray Twins became London's most feared and notorious gangsters.
This walk which includes a map and clear directions, will guide you around the back streets of Bethnal Green
and Whitechapel, to the places actually frequented by the Kray Twins and too many of the secret places
known only to them or their Firm.
Photographic history of Canning Town
Baby Oil and Ice is a lavish, large-format hardback documenting a fast-disappearing part of 'old London'.
Shoreditch, that small but vibrant area just east of Liverpool Street station in east London, is the centre
of London's shady and once-thriving strip-pub culture. But due to the gentrification of the area , many of
the pubs have either closed or are closing down. Photographers Julie Cook and Sarah Ainslie were given
unprecedented access to the venues and to the women themselves – using hidden cameras (photography
is strictly prohibited in strip pubs) – and their photographs are a mixture of candid shots of the strippers
relaxing, preparing for work and performing, and images of the architecture (many of the venues are once
grand Victorian gin palaces) and the punters' reaction to what they're being shown. Lara Clifton, a dancer
for many years, has persuaded many of the women, staff and customers to put their motivations,
thoughts and ideas into writing and these are scattered throughout the book.
Invaluable to those who wish to understand what Londoners went through during the Second World War.
By means of seven easily manageable walks, the reader is transported back to those dark days of devastating
destruction. Using rich anecdotes and first-hand accounts the scale of the Luftwaffe raids becomes apparent
and the horror of Hitler's V-weapon attacks unfurls.
"cultural studies of the best kind... sumptuous... beautiful... breathtaking... well-judged...
deeply evocative... crisp... vibrant, loving... Cinematic... a tribute of a quality the humble caff
deserves... buy a copy and head for your local to enjoy it."
